On 11/02 11:10 , Chris Frederick wrote: > Is it possible that a disk can fail on a write, but not a read? I see no reason it can't. Disks are phenominally complex and delicate things; in some ways it's amazing that they work at all. > Or am I > getting a different problem (I hope)? And if it is a disk crash, how > long would you guess I have till it's no longer readable? I'm about > three weeks away from affording a replacement disk. have you tried looking at the output of 'dmesg' to see what it says? in any case; life of the disk will depend on how much you use it -- BUT -- disks wear out the most when starting up and shutting down (just like car engines and light bulbs), so only turning your computer on occasionally is not necessarily the answer. whining noises do not necessarily indicate a failing drive; but it's never a good sign. errors in dmesg (the kernel log) reporting a problem of any sort with a drive, are grounds for immediate replacement; tho they don't always appear when you have a problem. (absence of errors does not indicate that everthing is peachy-keen). I heartily suggest you replace the drive as soon as possible; or at least make sure you have good backups (www.mondorescue.org is your friend). Carl. -- Systems Administrator Real-Time Enterprises www.real-time.com _______________________________________________ TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota http://www.mn-linux.org tclug-list at mn-linux.org https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list